Aquarius
by silversurf4
Summary: Sequel to A Dark Path. Crews and Reese begin again. Rating for language and sexually suggestive actions. COMPLETED: 10 Sep 2012.
1. Chapter 1

**Aquarius – Chapter 1**

"I wanna take you to dinner," he pronounced in a pleased, but calm and level tone while smiling broadly across their conjoined desks. They'd only just begun to acknowledge their attraction and Dani remained shy about work place talk of it. He hadn't said it loud enough for anyone but her to hear, but he anticipated her reaction and decided to have some fun with it.

"Not here," she hissed in reply.

"No, of course, not here," he played dumb, "some place nice, with good food."

"I mean - not now, Crews," she growled.

"No, of course, not now," he continued to tease her mercilessly. "It's not even 10AM."

"Crews," she warned glowering fiercely.

He leaned across the desk, lowered his voice and told her suggestively, "Now see that would be far more effective if I wasn't imagining you in a little black dress and low light," he brazenly posited.

She stood, stared and stormed out.

He chuckled. She'd eat dinner with him – she'd want to, but this was new for her and it scared her – just a little.

* * *

He found her in the break room stirring more sugar into her coffee than usual. She was distracted and he was the source. Ensuring they were alone he stepped close in behind her and leaned close rumbling in her ear in a gravelly tone, "you okay?"

She didn't start and he realized a moment too late she'd seen him approach in the glass of the window in front of her. A smile played across her features and he sighed in defeat. "There's no surprising you is there?"

She shook her head in response and grinned.

"I still wanna take you to dinner," he growled into her ear. His hands rested lightly on her narrow waist. He desperately wanted to kiss her and she knew it.

"You better get your hands off me," she warned, "before I hurt you Detective."

He smiled and stepped back keeping his hands to himself. "Have it your way," he conceded – "for now."

Tidwell leaned in and yelped, "Crews – Reese,", "211 in progress – Bank of Los Angeles," he was gone again.

They looked at each other in shock.

"Are you okay to go there?" she inquired.

"Yeah," he replied, "yep, uh yeah, sure," he continued stammering like an idiot. Then he realized it and shut up.

"Charlie?" she asked diving into personal territory in concern.

"Yeah, I'm good," his masked slipped into place. Gone was the playful potential lover and in his place stood a steely-eyed killer. "Let's go," he was all business now. Like the flip of a switch he'd changed. As they walked to their lockers to grab their vests, they exchanged a look and she knew he was still in there – her Charlie, but he was hiding deep in a foxhole like a soldier on the frontline.

"It'll be okay," she said softly.

"Yeah?" he looked down at her, "right... I mean - what could go wrong?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Aquarius – Chapter Two**

"Remember the last Bank of LA robbery?" Charlie queried idly, while Dani drove at breakneck speeds that would make most people wish for Dramamine.

"Yeah, I was twelve," she said her annoyance and distraction evident as a pedestrian with a death wish stepped off the curb and she swerved to avoid, "my dad was the SWAT Commander, remember?"

He didn't respond and she took her eyes off the road to glance at him.

"I know you know that," she argued acerbically, "it was on the wall in your closet."

"Yeah," he said humbly. Then quietly, almost as if he was talking to himself like he did when they first met he added, "but there's so much I don't know."

She recognized that something about this response - to this incident - spooked him. Crews wasn't scared or even phased by much and the fact that she noticed that about him spoke to the increasing closeness of their bond. Over the years, she'd alllowed herself to care about him, long before she'd noticed she was interested in him sexually. She multitasked while quizzing him. In her own way saying "I care," without actually having to utter the words. "Does that scare you?" she wondered jumping the curb with one wheel to get around stopped traffic at a light.

"No," he said blithely invoking Zen, "knowing that we don't know, can't know - should give us strength and help us to understand our place in the universe. Not knowing is a gift."

She examined him as closley as her current speed would permit. For just a second he returned her gaze and he was himself again - the man he was with her - not the Zen automaton or the cold blooded killer who lurked under his shiny bravado. In that moment he tried to convey, without words, all the things he couldn't say and to her great surprise she got them. She let him off easy, rolling her eyes and joking, "a gift? Yeah...Sure it is."

Tha magnitude of the moment made them both feel strange and yet somehow special and connected. They rode in silence for a long moment as the sounds of their siren and the screeching tires of the car seemed far off. Then suddenly, Charlie demanded, "Stop the car," urgently.

"We're still twelve blocks out," she countered, but slowed anyway.

"Reese, stop." The urgency in his tone made her do so without understanding why.

Sirens sounded. Other cars, marked and unmarked, whizzed by. She pulled to the curb and waited, but he said nothing. He was thinking she could tell. She tried not to sound annoyed as she inquired, "Mind telling me why we're missing the party?"

He stared into space. Right now he was either in the past or future because he wasn't present. "I studied the Bank of LA robbery," he said in thin voice. "Researched it."

"How?" she asked skepticism undercutting her question, "everyone died."

"Exactly," he turned and looked straight at her. "How did they plan to get away?"

This stunned her into silence and he continued vocalizing his theory with each word getting stronger and more sure of himself. "Bank robbers have to have a plan to escape. A getaway car and a driver to keep watch. Think that's changed much in the era of walkie talkies and cell phones?"

She shook her head no and smiled. What he'd concluded instinctively was now clear to her.

"The driver would be staged somewhere, blocks from the bank - outside where police cordon will be. He'd be able to drive off – if the alarm was sounded," she posited.

He continue finishing her thought, "he…or she," he gestured at her behind the wheel, "would be far enough away to slink off, if the cops got close and live to rob another day. Start making circles, block by block, tightening in," he instructed and she put the car in gear. "We're looking for…"

"Someone not interested in or distracted by the bank robbery, police response," she finished it for him. "Someone looking for something else." He nodded in agreement and a small tight smile turned up one corner of his mouth. They knew something no one else did; the question was – could they make something of it?


	3. Chapter 3

**Aquarius – Chapter 3**

They circled the deserted blocks like sharks honing in on an injured fish. They could smell the blood in the water and the excitement in the air. They turned down the police radio chatter about the bank. It was nothing but patrol officers walking all over each other trying to broadcast something useful to dispatch and others. Their eyes became the only sense they trusted; scouring every parked car and every pedestrian who wasn't whipping out their camera phone or running the opposite direction. But they were coming up empty. Inside Dani was beginning to feel the clawing insecurity of being wrong, when Crews tensed and barked, "back up."

Any other time she would have been annoyed at the commanding tone he summoned, commented on it or railed against him, but she couldn't find the temerity to argue with his directive. Something about him now reminded her of a caged animal or a live high voltage wire, both with the capacity to kill entirely by accident. It made her heart beat faster and her mouth go dry. She hit the brakes hard enough that both their seatbelts grabbed and reversed the car quickly.

Charlie leaned forward and stared down an alley between two old red brick buildings. All she could see were green dumpsters, black wrought iron fire escapes climbing up the sides of the adjacent buildings and the back of his head. She craned her neck to see past her ginger colored partner and noticed sweat on the back of his neck trickling past the freckles there and soaking his collar. It wasn't that hot - Crews was clearly agitated and committed to hiding it from her.

"What do you see?" she inquired trying to keep the strain she felt from coloring her tone. He didn't answer. "Crews?" she tried to reach him with her voice.

He didn't even acknowledge her. He reached back and unbuckled his seatbelt, but his eyes never left the alley. It was as if she wasn't even there – and then he said something that let her know he remembered her.

"Stay here," he commanded, suddenly exiting the car. He walked with purpose up the alley in the open, but his posture was like a big cat stalking prey.

She couldn't see past him and the longer she sat there - the madder she got.

"Fuck this," she growled under her breath. For all they had achieved together, she was still chaffed by the idea that he'd give her orders AND that she'd obey them. She put the car in park, unbuckled herself and climbed from the car.

She was at least a half a block away behind him when she heard it, the whine of a motorcycle as the clutch popped and the crunching sound of wheels spun on asphalt. Crews reached for his pistol but the rider was too quick for him. She drew her own weapon but couldn't fire at that distance for fear of striking her partner. In that instant she could tell what would happen, but was helpless to stop it. She couldn't even find her voice – all the while knowing that shouting would not forestall what was to come.

* * *

That fraction of a second of indecision was going to get him hurt, he knew this - he registered it before the blow came. He was getting soft, slow, too relaxed, too comfortable. Just a moment ago he had options, rushing the bike and close the distance using his speed and size to unseat the rider with his hands or do the cop thing – go for his gun. He was cursing himself for letting the cop in him overrun hard won prison yard ex-con instincts.

He couldn't draw fast enough. And couldn't block the blow that was coming as the rider bore down on him with a tire iron in his left hand. He raised his hands to cover his head, step to the side and tried to duck hoping for a glancing blow. But the rider was accomplished and steered into striking him on the back of the head with the metal rod. He felt the warm blood flow down his face but stayed on his feet.

The rider spun the bike around and knocked the stunned detective to the ground with a burst of gas gunning the engine. Towering over him in a black and red helmet the rider reached for the gun under his jacket to finish the job, when shots rang out up the alley.

Dani had not listened to him and in doing so saved his life. The rider ducked and fled at blistering speed up the alley. He remembered looking at the retreating tiny motorcycle license plate and making out three digits. "Six – Lincoln – Three," he repeated over and over to himself as he could hear Dani's footfalls drawing nearer.

She reached him and rolled him over with strong stable hands. Her concerned face appeared above him, "Crews?" she questioned, not quite panicked but definitely more worried than pissed.

"Six – Lincoln – Three," he said dazed but determined to get her to recognize and remember the information before he lost consciousness and forgot it. He gripped the lapels of her jacket and pulled her down to him, close as if to kiss her and once again repeated, "six – Lincoln – three," with his lips on her ear.

He felt her nod just before he let the blackness take him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Aquarius – Chapter 4**

Crews struggled to the surface of consciousness and forced himself awake. He blinked against the shocking white that surrounded and enveloped him. He could tell he was in the infirmary or a hospital of some sort. For an instant he was sure he was back in prison, but as he struggled to rise from the bed, she leaned over him and held him down gently but firmly. She, of the dark of hair and eyes, a shade against the blinding white. There were no angels in prison he recalled as he surrendered to the blackness again.

* * *

"You were nowhere near the call," Tidwell asserted testily, one part righteous anger with a smattering of spurned ex-lover thrown in. Despite their breakup he was finding it hard to let go of his affection for Dani Reese and she had Crews' blood on her; he knew it could have just as easily been her own. "You were four blocks from the bank so just what the hell were you doing? Grabbing lunch first?" his anger made him sarcastic.

Her easy deflection and flippant manner were more her partner than her, "you know Crews," she argued cheekily, "he's always hungry."

"Knock the bullshit off, Dani. What the hell happened?" Tidwell was furiously whispering at her, chiding her. It was his way of saying _I still care_.

"What's it look like?" she bit off her words angrily. "Hit and run," she lied.

"Hit with what? A bulldozer?" he tried sarcasm to solicit more information from his former lover, but she stonewalled him. She shrugged but said nothing further; her dark eyes glittering dangerously and her lips pursed tightly. He remembered when that look meant something more than anger from the little raven-haired detective, but those days were over for them.

"The back of his head's cut down to his scalp, Dani. How'd that happen? Who hit him? With what?" His rapid-fire questions were met with more stony silence.

"So you're telling me you saw nothing?" he straightened and emphasized his height and authority. "Detective," he barked and she shot daggers at him with her eyes. "A year ago, your partner gets shot with you 50 feet away and neither of you saw the shooter. Now he's nearly killed by a car and neither of you got anything to go on. Do I have that right?"

"That's right," she jutted her chin out defiantly.

"Well maybe the two of you need to go back to the Academy," he glowered, "because for detectives neither of you is very fucking observant." It was a cutting remark, but he didn't believe Crews the first time and he didn't believe Dani now. "What do think about that...Detective?" he asked pointedly, hoping to bait her into anger and get something useful. They were both lying to him now and it worried him profoundly.

The words that escaped her lips were Charlie's, "sometimes not knowing is a gift."

"A….what?" Tidwell flashed red and registered that he about as angry as he'd ever been with anyone when his intended scathing tirade was interrupted by a hoarse call from Crews.

"Reese," the red head rasped dryly.

She was gone in an instant. Tidwell felt the heat and energy of Dani Reese leave him and was instantly envious of Crews yet again. _God he even loved her yelling at him._ But she wasn't his anymore. He turned on his heel and left.

The Mayor was calling, the Chief of Police wanted answers, his cell phone had not stopped ringing for the past eleven hours and he couldn't devote anymore time to a woman who was never going to love him – no matter how much he missed her.

* * *

If Crews was hoping for sympathy from Dani Reese he would be sorely disappointed. What he got instead was her rage and anger, both barrels.

"Wanna tell me what the fuck you were thinking?" she clenched her fists and stood beside him balanced on the balls of her feet. She couldn't help that she came when called, but she damned sure was not about to baby him.

He gingerly hoisted himself to a sitting position, stiff and sore and still disoriented. He wrung his neck with his hands and when he tested his range of motion and opened his eyes again she was still there staring at him. Her eyes held a fire that would never go out and it warmed him – to be the angry she had to care – deeply.

"I think we've established I don't always think – first," he answered sounding awkward, Zen and disoriented simultaneously.

"You don't think at all, Crews. And don't think that a head injury is going to keep me from kicking the shit out of you," she threatened darkly.

"Yeah," he smiled slyly, "you and what Army?" he teased.

She wheeled from him and walked across the room distancing herself. She wanted to hit him, but that wasn't really a good idea - with him already in a hospital bed. She breathed deeply calming herself. _Damn him!_ He hadn't been conscious more than 90 seconds and already he was pissing her off. She'd been more worried about him than she'd wanted to be and now he was making jokes.

He waited for her to return to him on her own terms; he owed her that. When she faced him, he held her eyes and in them was the "I'm sorry" he'd never say.

Her features eased and tension melted from her body as they simply looked at one another for several long seconds.

Moments later he rekindled the anger that he loved to watch in her. "What'd you tell Tidwell?" he questioned coolly. She held his gaze and didn't reply.

"Nothing, huh?" he surmised. Shock registered on her face before she hid it from him. "Why'd you lie?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Aquarius – Chapter 5**

She opened her mouth to speak three times, but couldn't find the right words. _Hell, she couldn't find any words._

She settled for turning on her heel, grabbing her coat and storming out.

He was absolutely right and he had her cold – she had lied with no prompting and no provocation – for him (again). She couldn't begin to explain why – not to him, not to Tidwell, not to herself – and that well and truly pissed her off. In point of fact it left her literally speechless.

All the way down the hall to the elevator, on the elevator, in the parking garage and halfway home she alternated between growling, muttering and biting her lower lip. She was overwhelmed by her own reaction and even she didn't understand why she'd done it. Never mind the fact he seemed to expect it, which only served to infuriate and confuse her further.

* * *

At home, finally, she threw her car into park and sat there unsure of where to go or what to do. She elected to go inside, because going back to work and going back to the hospital were on her "no" list at the moment. At work, her usual refuge, Tidwell would be there to chastise and quiz her silly. At the hospital Crews would be awake to confuse and confound her – or alternately smile at her lazily, which did weird things to her stomach. At this point, both options were equally unappealing for completely opposite reasons. She had no desire to sleep with Tidwell; conversely she found herself inexorably drawn to Crews – despite the way he got under her skin or perhaps because of it. He was an itch she wanted to scratch.

Once inside her apartment, she considered calling her mother, but with Jack Reese's disappearance the year prior the woman she grew up with had vanished. Her calm, collected mother had become a basket case and she certainly didn't need to be saddled with her daughter's issues – particularly not when they swirled around Charlie Crews and Dani's perplexing devotion to him.

There was no other proper word for what had just happened, for what she'd just done. She'd lied because she knew it was what he'd do – he didn't have to ask, she just knew. The fact that she knew that about him meant they were way past distracted flirtation and errant kissing. It meant something profound that she'd pushed aside and chosen to ignore. Crews was part of her now, so much so that she acted instinctively to protect him. It didn't require thought - her heart did it for her.

The fact that he could read her so easily meant he knew it too. The warmth of his smile signaled his victory. He'd succeeded where everyone else failed – in getting her to care. They were a couple, no matter how much she tried to deny it – her own actions impeached her vigorous denial. She was lying, to him and herself.

"Jesus Christ, " she exhaled loudly, "I'm in love with him." She tried to sound angry about this revelation, but it didn't sound that way. Her own voice betrayed the wonder she felt.

She wandered into her bathroom, turned on the water and ran herself a bath with the water as hot as she could stand it. As she eased into the tub and tried to push Crews from her mind as her tense and tired muscles unkinked and unknotted. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. His voice echoed in her head, "Jennifer's not my one – you are." He'd said the words weeks ago and they'd frightened her then. She no longer found them as terrifying. _Was it the time and distance or acceptance?_

After her bath she was more balanced and relaxed but nowhere closer to sleep. She sat idly flipping channels and after realizing there was nothing on television but stupid people doing stupid things for money she switched it off. She sat in silence and wondered it that was what life was like for Crews. Alone in his marble castle with no furnishing and no family, then she had an epiphany.

With Crews hospitalized overnight for observation, after which they would release him anyway, despite the fact she knew he was "not right" and he'd never be right; his giant house with the murder board in his gargantuan closet would be empty, silent and hers to explore at her leisure. Perhaps then she could begin to understand why the call of a robbery at the Bank of Los Angeles scared the stuffings out of her usually unflappable Zen warrior. She grabbed a hoodie and her keys and sped to Charlie's house high in the hills overlooking the city. If she couldn't figure herself out, maybe she could unravel the conundrum that was Charlie Crews.


	6. Chapter 6

**Aquarius – Chapter 6**

Dani pulled her compact car into the drive in front of Crews' home and stood there for a moment before slamming the car door loudly. She waited for movement, lights, any sign of occupancy and after several seconds none came. Releasing the breath she didn't realize she was holding, she walked to his front door.

Several events came to her in a flash of memories as she crossed the threshold into his home: the day she came here drunk asking him anything but what she really wanted to know; him standing in this very doorway on the day he was shot - the sunlight haloing his copper colored hair just before the sharp retort of the gun, the smell of cordite and the unnatural thump of him hitting the smooth polished floor; him with a shy young girl of nineteen in the foyer and the look the girl gave her when Charlie said her name was "Dani Reese". Flashes of unanswered questions and unresolved issues.

She crept through the house, which was silent as a tomb, feeling like a burglar or a thief instead of a cop. She climbed the stairs stealthily, but oddly enough relaxed only after she was in his bedroom. It shouldn't have felt as comfortable as it did to be in Crews' bedroom. His bed was rumpled and well used. She idly wondered if he'd slept in it with someone else since she'd spent the night there a little over a month ago. It wasn't a thought she held onto for long because the idea of it annoyed her – and the fact that it annoyed her, annoyed her further.

She didn't want to be jealous, she didn't want to love the man at all, but part of her was already beginning to accept the fact that she did. He was an enigma, her partner – seemingly open and yet impenetrable – like a glass box you could see into but couldn't get into. She didn't want to see into that box, but it made her feel special that she could. She didn't want to get him, but she was beginning to - in ways she no longer feared. Most of all she didn't want to want him, to need him, but she was beginning to realize she did in the most desperate ways.

Perhaps the key that unlocked Charlie Crews was hidden somewhere in that closet.

She had a peek in that cloistered closet, which was just a fraction smaller than her first apartment - twice; but neither opportunity provided sufficient time and privacy to really pour over the mountains of data in there nor to view it through the lens that was Charlie's fracture psyche. She'd been rushed and afraid of being interrupted, thus unable to absorb and appreciate her partner's notes scribbled in bold black marker on the bark colored paper. Now she found herself secretly longing to run her fingers across the coarse paper and delve into Crews shuttered mind's eye. It was insight into him she'd never gain through direct questioning or observation. His cool gaze would simply reflect her angriness back at her in shades of blue as his eyes smiled and rebuffed even the simplest of her inquiries.

_No! More than rebuff, outright, bald face lied to her_. "No, Reese, your father had nothing to do with putting me in jail," she repeated his lie as she trailed her hands along the rows of neatly hung suits and shirts. His wardrobe probably cost more than her apartment she thought snidely. Fifty million dollars could buy a lot of clothes, cars and a giant house; what it couldn't buy back was time, innocence or the other things he'd lost. She wondered who Crews was before all this, but that was a man she'd never met and would never know. She just wanted to know this one - the current incarnation of Charlie Crews.

She'd believed him when he'd lied to her about her father - because she'd wanted to and even when she learned the truth she hadn't been that upset with him. That would have destroyed any other relationship – his deception - but from him, she took it. She almost expected it. What hurt the most was that she thought she'd proven herself trustworthy and yet still he hid things from her.

Perhaps he was protecting her she considered.

But Dani didn't want protecting, didn't need it – and yet he did it anyway. Crews did what he thought was best, he didn't ask her – he just did it. Maybe that was what you did for people you loved. Maybe that was why she lied for him. She chewed on that thought as she crept into the main closet chamber where he'd laid out his fears in black and white in a place he thought was private and sacrosanct.

Then it was there - his conspiracy wall - the metaphorical equivalent of peeling back her partner's short, red hair and looking straight into his brain. It was an ordered composition of all his thoughts and fears played out on a strange brownish orange coarse paper, like butchers used to wrap raw meat. Pinned to it were photos, reports, forms, newspaper clippings. Boxes were drawn to indicate missing information, lines to reflect associations and linkages. Notes were scribbled in his long hand at points along the flow.

If she were investigating a crime scene, she'd take this and the time and energy poured into as evidence of an obsession. Obsession was very un-Zen.

She spent several minutes staring until she crossed the final boundary and allowed herself to touch things, to peel back papers to examine his notes. His handwriting was strong block print, masculine and unwavering. It spoke in short terse notes his theories and several were marked through. Not obsession for the sake of collecting, but a path to uncovering truth. Truth mattered to him. He intended to get it right. _How far would she go to find the truth that cost twelve years of her life _Dani wondered.

Along one wall of the closet were banker's boxes containing files, among them her father's personnel jacket from LAPD. She was impressed. He had to have good connections to get that, not just money. She compared the informant picture to Rachel's drawing and knew just as Charlie had – they were the same man – her father's informant – Kyle Hollis. But everyone knew that – Crews arrested Hollis. He'd confessed to the Seybolt killings, so she dug deeper.

Hours passed and she grew tired of standing or sitting on the floor. Eventually, yawning she dragged a box of files to the bedroom and reclined in his rumpled bed propped against the headboard reading into the wee hours of the morning. She slid lower and lower into the softness of his sheets, until she gave up all pretense of reading and rolled onto her side. She grabbed one of his pillows hugging it to her chest. It smelled like him – a mixture of expensive, subtle aftershave, sunshine and citrus.

"Why is this so hard Charlie? Why are you the one question I need answered?" she mumbled as sleep and dreams took her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Aquarius – Chapter 7**

As the cabbie drove him through the darkened streets, Charlie pulled at the plastic hospital tag encircling his wrist. He tried ignoring it but that didn't work. He wanted to cut it off, but they'd taken his knife along with his watch, wallet, et cetera at the hospital when they checked him in – or she had. She - being Dani Reese - his mercurial, currently irate and noticeably absent partner. That was one reason why when his cab crested the hill and pulled into his driveway he was surprised to see her small blue Toyota parked there.

"This the place, Mac?" the cab driver asked.

"Charlie, " he corrected softly, but the driver didn't care.

He only wanted the fare Charlie promised. _Five hundred dollars if he took him straight home, no questions, no stops._ It was what you had to do when you walked out of a hospital in a blue dressing gown open down the back and got a cab to actually even stop for you.

"Wait here," Charlie said quietly climbing from the cab.

He took a look into Reese's car on his way in. He peered into the window of her locked subcompact and could see her cell blinking missed calls – that was why she didn't answer he reasoned. That or she was still pissed – possibly both. He laid his palm against the hood of her car and felt the temperature. It was cool to his touch indicating the car had been parked awhile.

He walked to the front door, opened it and listened – silence greeted him and it was a sound he welcomed after the screeching and beeping of machines, the slamming of doors and the constant hum of people in the hospital. All he heard was the A/C unit on the back porch cycling and the breath of reconditioned air tickled his neck. He reached into the fruit bowl by the front door and pulled out the emergency cash he kept there for pizza deliveries and the odd thing. He folded five hundreds in half and returned to the cabbie.

"As promised," he said succinctly stating their agreement. The man nodded, but checked the bills anyway.

Charlie walked off, still dazed, but finally home. He'd fallen back asleep at the hospital after Reese stormed off, but again the nightmares of Pelican Bay came and this time she wasn't there to reassure him or to hold him in that moment or that place. He felt the panic in himself and knew he had to leave the hospital. Even if it meant sleeping on a park bench - he couldn't stay there. As he shut his own front door, he felt the peace of a comfortable surrounding permeate his body.

Reese was here, in his house. It didn't bother him that she was here; it did make him wonder why.

All answers to all questions come - in due time - he recalled.

He padded quietly on bare feet to the kitchen. He poured a tall glass of orange juice and glanced at the clock on the stove, which heralded the time as 4:39 in green numbers. He walked to his patio and stood looking out at the city, breathing deeply and drinking his juice. Twinkling lights in the darkened city below winked back at him.

A coyote slunk across the corner of the yard returning to its den, a small grey rabbit limply hanging from its mouth. Charlie regarded the coyote and it returned his stare before continuing on its way.

Calm returned and he was ready to find Reese. She would be angry with him, he knew this and he welcomed it. For Reese to be angry meant that she felt concern and under that he knew lurked affection and perhaps even something stronger.

He returned to the kitchen, carefully placed his glass in the sink and climbed the stairs to his room quietly. For a moment he considered it might be wise to call out and let her know he was there – then he realized it was his house and he was somewhat expected to be there. It was his partner who was the interloper; although he didn't mind her intrusion. It intrigued him; her reason for being here - almost as much as the woman herself did.

His bedroom door was open; the lights were off, except for the one in the closet and a small lamp by his bedside. Dani Reese was lying in his bed fully clothed with files and folders from his closet arrayed around her and a box from there next to his bed.

Mystery solved. He knew what drew her here. She was examining him the only way he'd permit. This was his fault. Out of habit, not from a lack of trust he kept her away from the darkness in his past. She was just beginning to escape her own dark path. Now he'd driven her to this…investigating him.

She was taking apart his pursuit and learning about not only his theories but himself in the process. He walk to the bedside and carefully collected the files, tugging the last one from under her arm gently so as not to wake her. He boxed the files and carried the box back to the closet, turned off the light and locked the door. Some secrets needed to remain hidden – at least for now, for this night.

Tomorrow would bring a host of new problems, but he was tired and his head hurt. He just wanted to forget his troubles and collapse into his waiting bed and leave harder decisions for the bright light of day. He stood looking down on her, his real dilemma, the only one that really mattered, the dark haired woman in his bed and firmly entrenched in his heart. He did love her, perhaps more than he'd ever loved anyone. But she also drove him slightly insane.

There were several options to confront this intrusion, none of them good. He wasn't angry. He was instead touched - that she cared enough to try to understand him – and she'd lied for him (again). He knew their bond was deep and unbreakable, but it didn't mean they'd agree on everything or anything. In the end, he elected not to follow his thoughts but his heart.

He sat on the bed carefully, and then he leaned back and rolled onto his left side. He fit next to her on the bed – just barely. He knew he'd fall off the bed if he rolled right in the night, so he nudged her gently and in a low voice told her to move over. He imagined her eyes snapping open - dark, black and angry; but she didn't wake. Instead she complied without comment, although she did grumble something unintelligible as she edged deeper into the bed's center.

He cautiously slid an arm under her pillow and wrapped the other around her waist spooning up behind her and tugging her into the contours of his body. She sighed contentedly as the warmth of his body penetrated her dreams. He buried his nose in her hair and exhaled his tension. There in the waning hours of the night, clutching each other, in some fashion holding close that which they most feared losing, they both fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Aquarius – Chapter 8**

She woke somehow knowing he was there. It was a sense she had before her eyes opened, but it tickled her clever brain because he couldn't be there - he was in the hospital. For just a second, she wondered if she'd stupidly gone back to Kevin for the comfort of familiarity, but she sighed knowing she was stronger than that. All those thoughts passed in an instant before her eyes fluttered open and she looked down to find his pale freckled arm wrapped around her with the white plastic hospital band still affixed to his wrist_._

_Idiot_, she thought. She pushed against him roughly, but that was a bad idea as he simply tightened his grip and mumbled something that sounded vaguely like her given name against her neck. She felt the warm tickle of his breath against her skin as the prickly sensation of his unshaven face brushed against her ear. His nearness excited her and that pissed her off.

"Crews," she barked with enough command in her voice to rouse him.

"Uh-huh," he answered sleepily.

"Lemme go," she demanded.

"Uh-uh," he replied. He was making two syllables but just barely and not without a lot of effort. She tried to wriggle free of his grasp.

"You really shouldn't do that," he chided in a low tone managing his first full sentence of the day.

She stilled as she realized the effect their closeness was having on him. The point of his argument jabbed her in the backside. Even fully clothed she knew this aroused them both; and he knew she knew it and she felt it, but instead of being embarrassed or mortified he seemed amused. She felt him smile against the back of her neck.

He loosened his grip and she turned in his arms – _big mistake_. She meant for her look to convey disapproval or at least annoyance, but as he stared at her with those pale blue green eyes of his and a lazy smile on his face, her breath caught and her pulse raced. Her eyes were open, almost inviting and a rich brown. A slight smile played across her lips for a whisper of a second before she silenced it. His hand softly stroked her cheek. She raised her hand to arrest his and found the hospital bracelet again.

"You broke out of the hospital?" she questioned grateful for the distraction.

"Hospital security's a joke after you've been in Super Max," he boasted, yawned and stretched.

She was now entirely free, yet she didn't move. _Stupid girl_, she thought moments later as he returned to her eyes.

"How'd you get home…here…dressed like that?" she stammered now noticing all he was wearing was a threadbare white hospital dressing gown with tiny blue dots, tied at the neck and open down the back. His thigh, the one slung over her blue jean clad leg was long, lean and entirely naked. When she looked up from her study, she found him watching her; he seemed pleased by her examination of his body.

She blushed furiously and looked away, so he gave her the answer to her forgotten question. "Hailed a cab," he said his eyes never leaving her face and lips. She licked them nervously. Her heart was hammering wildly and she should have moved at least a half dozen times since they woke, but found herself nailed to this spot.

He raised himself onto an elbow and the change only increased his vantage point. "The real question is what are you doing here, Dani." It wasn't an accusation or a question, just a simple statement of fact.

She reached for her ready response of anger, but found that shelf bare and settled for returning his deep stare with one of her own. "I wanted answers," she told him truthfully. She was different now; so very different - stronger, more sure of herself. There was no anger in her eyes, no indignation, no recrimination, just truth. "I wanted to know things you won't tell me."

"I've already told you everything that really means something," he alluded to his profession of love.

She looked away not yet ready for that conversation.

He rephrased. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes and no," she tempted, her eyes returning to his.

"It's not in that closet and it's not in those boxes," he teased. "The truth," he explained answering her unspoken question, the one she really wanted to know. "It's in here," he touched her chest between her breasts over the wildly beating heart.

She couldn't hold the words in; they just erupted from her lips before she could stop them. "I know," she concurred.

They were somewhere new, somewhere neither of them had ever been before. There was excitement, but no fear, enchantment without the fear of disillusionment. He was a broken man; she a damaged woman. Neither was pretending to be whole or perfect – they simple were. It couldn't last more than a moment.

"How's your head?" she deliberately tried to take them out of that place they both felt so comfortable in.

"Uh-uh," he shook his head softly and touched her lips lightly with his thumb tracing her bottom lip, "don't do that. Don't hide from me," he explained.

She knew what he wanted; it was her desire also. She had no words, yet again, but she nodded solemnly. He made no move to do anymore than simply look at her, but she couldn't recall a moment in her life that she felt more loved. It was almost too much, so she moved to kiss him. He lifted his head away and their lips just brushed. His eyes questioned hers. _Are you doing this to hide in meaningless sex_ they seemed to wonder. It was her MO so it was a valid question even if he never spoke it.

She shook her head once; an answer to a conversation they never gave voice to and yet had anyway. She rose once again to kiss him. This time he made no effort to avoid her. Her kiss was light and sweet and wonderful. She couldn't remember kissing anyone since seventh grade that felt like that, giddy, breathless, like a first love. Breaking they both sighed contentedly and she sank into the pillows once more.

His hand stroked her cheek and he descended to kiss her brow, then moved to kiss her lightly on each corner of her mouth and then just her top lip. Her mouth opened in supplication and need. The moan that escaped her erased all pretense of lightness in him as he hungrily fed on that sound.

Her hands were now on his ass and it was a fine tight ass that she pulled towards her. But she was wearing all her clothes and him nearly none. They were severely outmatched. He seemed to sense he could not overcome this and satisfied himself with rolling onto her fully and pressing against her. His hands wove into her hair and he kissed her deeply. She bucked against him and he groaned his need and raised himself away from her.

"Not fair," he teased with his teeth against the delicate joining of her shoulder and neck, "you're wearing too many clothes."

She loosed the cord tying his gown shut and pulled it down his arms, "and you're not wearing any," she grinned.

He moved one arm at a time until the thin white garment was gone leaving nothing but his long pale body hovering over her.

Her hands covered his torso exploring the many scars there. He held still and endured her gentle exploration. Gradually, her tongue replaced her hands and he growled that he'd had enough and forced her back onto the mattress and resumed his long, slow, deep wet kisses designed to deprive her of oxygen and drive her mad.

She reached for him, wanting to stroke the length of his shaft and feel him pulse in time with her.

He batted her hands away, even as his cock leapt eagerly to reach her.

"Uh-uh," he warned and when she tried again he took both wrists and pinned them over her head. He worked the buttons on her jeans with the other hand and then her zipper and she gasped in exquisite agony when he pressed his lips to her navel and put his hand into her crotch. He ached for him and he knew it.

"Oh my god, Charlie," she squirmed beneath him impatiently.

"I've waited a lifetime to feel like this about another living being," he promised breathlessly. "I promise you we'll get there. Let me do this my way," he demanded.

She nodded her consent. Just like that, without learning anything, she'd given him everything - control, command, her trust, her love, all of it. He pushed her jeans free of her hips and dragged her panties down her with his teeth. His rough face grazed her smooth thighs and she bucked against him.

"Soon, Dani, soon," he vowed and she knew he meant every word of it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Aquarius – Chapter 9**

They were wrenched from what promised to be a very satisfying sexual pursuit by the sound of an eerily familiar voice echoing through his empty house. If it were Ted, Charlie could have ignored it and with some devoted effort he could have made Dani not care, but sounds carried well along the marble floors and white walls. The voice that came to them chilled them both. It was Kevin Tidwell's.

"Crews?" he called out. "Detective Crews?" his voice became more insistent, louder as if he were drawing nearer.

"My car's in the drive," she whispered. "He knows I'm here," she sounded edgy and slightly panicked.

"So…" Charlie was having a harder time disengaging from their decidedly amorous pursuit. He really needed to work on his attachment to this woman he thought. He didn't want to let her go. He wanted to stay here – in this moment – or the one just before it when she was wriggling and moaning beneath him for the rest of his life – or at least the rest of the morning.

"So…he'll have us split up if he finds out we're…." she stopped unsure of what the word was for what they were doing, for who and what they were becoming.

"Lovers?" he supplied one definition for her approval.

"What? No…yes," she admitted hissing. "Now let me up," she demanded.

Always his pushy demanding partner she was. "Tsk, tsk" he chided lightly and in jest chuckling as he rose.

She scrambled off the bed and smoothed her hair and clothes. She focused down, zipping and buttoning her jeans. The sigh of disappointment that escaped him as the smooth flesh of her belly disappeared from sight drew a scowl from her. "Now go get in the shower," she ordered.

His raised eyebrow questioned her silently.

"I got this," she assured him. She smiled and he was sold on the idea.

As he sauntered towards his bathroom in no special hurry, his backside drew her attention for just a moment as she appreciated the long sinewy lines of his lean body. She shook herself out of her lustful reverie and squared her shoulders and left the room to deal with her ex-lover.

* * *

Crews smiled at himself in the mirror and leaned heavily against the counter. She was just there in his arms. He was inches from having what he wanted; Dani Reese, as a willing participant, in his bed. She'd been in that bed before with him, but none of the previous times had they met on equal footing. Each of the previous times, one or both of them was unbalanced, hurt, drunk or angry. This time she was there because she wanted to be. She wasn't running away from Tidwell, rebelling from her father; she wasn't using him to forget a pain or hide to from the darkness. She was there because she'd surrendered to that which they both fought for so long; the inescapable fact they belonged together, the fact that no matter how long or how loud she protested – she loved him.

And that was a good moment, perhaps his best moment in a very, very long time.

* * *

"Hey," she directly engaged Tidwell as she descended the stairs.

"Dani," he tried to sound surprised she was here. She was instantly annoyed at his duplicity. He had to know she was here - her car was parked in his drive. "Crews here?" he inquired continuing his ploy.

"Uh, yeah," she sounded more than a little annoyed at his deliberate dumbness. "He lives here."

"Hospital called," he snapped off his words sharply now obviously pissed off or jealous, but definitely not nonplussed. "Said he pulled a Houdini," he left the rest hanging and waited for her to fill in the details.

"Well, he didn't," she lied again. "Must have forgotten to sign the discharge forms." Her body English dared him to question her.

"So you…what? Drove him home?"

"Uh-huh," she agreed. It made sense. No reason to spill the fact her partner had her pinned to his mattress and was kissing her breathless moments ago.

"You coming to work today?" Tidwell asked walking away toward the open front door.

She didn't answer so he turned to catch her eyes. "Your partner's on medical leave; you aren't." His eyes glittered in challenge. They said what he would not. _Just tell me you two are fucking so I can stop thinking we'll get back together._

But Dani didn't work like that. She didn't get pulled into disclosing her secrets, yet another way she and Crews were alike. "I'll be in later," she promised. "I just need to make sure he's okay. He's my partner," she explained unnecessarily.

Tidwell closed the door behind him and muttered to himself, "he's a helluva lot more than that."


	10. Chapter 10

**Aquarius – Chapter 10**

She didn't go straight home. She should have but she didn't.

She wanted to see something and it was no longer his closet - it was him.

She found him dutifully in the shower as she'd directed although he wasn't exactly showering. He stood facing away from her, behind a wall of steamy glass, his pale form contrasted against the cinnamon colored tile in his shower. He was buried in the blast of spray from jets on both walls with one hand pressed firmly against the wall in front of him and the other busily relieving some of the pressure they'd built together. His head was down and he was nearly finished. In a moment, he'd throw his head back and groan his deep release. It made her wet just thinking about it.

She wanted so much to shed her clothes, climb into that hot spray with him and wrap her arms around him. She wanted to finish what they'd started earlier, but she knew where that would lead and that she'd inevitably be late for work. Tidwell already suspected, mostly based on jealousy, but she didn't need to give him a reason to officially slice her away from the one man she trusted – her only partner.

She bit her lip, unsure if she would startle him by speaking. She wondered if she should just turn and leave or wait for him to finish, when he spoke startling her. "This would be easier if you'd help," he invited, wiping the water from his face with his free hand and turning sideways. His manhood was full and erect. Far from being embarrassed he was confident and calm. It was a powerful and evocative combination.

She took a step towards him before she stopped herself, "I can't…we can't."

This obviously bothered him because he what he was doing and asked her a direct question, "we can't?" His head twisted oddly as if he were trying to divine her meaning from her face or actions, then unable to, he simply asked, "You mean...now? Or ever?"

"I have to go to work," she said. She wheeled and fled and his groan followed her. But it was not the groan of satiation and satisfaction she'd expected. "Stay inside," she threw back merrily, "and take care of your head." She smiled slyly at her double entendre and she thought she heard him laugh as she left.

* * *

She spent all day at the office. Most of it was spent reviewing evidence of the bank robbery that wasn't.

No one fought her to review the surveillance footage from the bank. As it turned out the "2-11 in progress" at the Bank of LA was not a robbery at all. Nothing was stolen and the "bad guys" got away. She smiled recalling one of their subjects telling them "you can't steal nothing."

He was right, but you could miss nothing and the rest of the squad had. Theories abounded in the squad room and over the communal coffee pot in the break room: a frat house prank, a nervous robbery crew, a You Tube stunt, but they took no money so "officially" there really wasn't anything meriting Robbery / Homicide involvement.

A couple of high ranking officials, perfectly groomed, officious men in dark navy uniforms with silver buttons and hair to match visited with Tidwell for about twenty minutes behind closed doors and soon thereafter the whole team was advised to return to their regular cases. There was nothing for them to investigate.

But Dani knew something they didn't; it wasn't a prank or a stunt – it was a dry run. Designed to test the responses of the bank staff, of the police and the only ones who knew it were her and Crews.


	11. Chapter 11

**Aquarius – Chapter 11**

She was sitting on her couch with her feet up on her coffee table going through sheaves of paper, printouts on every motorcycle in the great Los Angeles county area with 6L3 as any part of the plate when there was a knock at her door.

She had oodles of DMV printouts courtesy of some guy in traffic that had a crush on her; he owed her a favor or wanted desperately to. She tried to remember if she's slept with him, but that was so far in her past it qualified as ancient history. He'd eagerly accepted the side project she offered with the promise of a lunch "really soon" and rewarded her with stacks of DMV records which filled a small box.

So after her long day at work and 50 minute work out at the gym, she'd come home showered, put on comfy sweats, pulled her damp hair back in a tight pony tail and began to search in earnest for Crews' attacker on the motorbike.

Something about the man's posture and carriage told her he was young and fit mid 20s to early 40's her hunch told her. The bike itself was also an adult rider's tool. Not a Harley like the rich older men fancied, not a crotch rocket like the kids rode, but a moderate bike for a man of moderate means. It wasn't much of a hunch, but it was something and because she was beginning to trust her instincts again, she followed it.

The knock came again, this time louder and she transferred the pile of papers from her lap to the table, nearly knocking over her fifth coffee of the day in the process, while shouting, "All right, all right, I hear you," in annoyance.

"Sorry," came the muffled voice of her partner through the door.

"Crews?" she questioned as the door swung open. "What are you doing here?"

* * *

Now that he'd gotten in his car and driven all this way, he was unsure – of what to say, what to do, how to proceed. His heart had gotten him this far and now it nearly stopped at the sight of her. She was simply dressed with no make-up and she still managed to stun the usually chatty redhead into diffident silence.

Earlier this had seemed like a good idea. He'd called a cab and gotten out of it, this time wearing clothes, in front of the shiny multi-story building that housed the LAPD Detective Division. He deduced she'd probably be there; they both worked there – usually together. It felt strange to think of her without him.

The thought of it bothered him, probably more than it should have. After all they'd been apart before. Six weeks once when he was recovering from being shot, but she'd called – and visited. And that was before they were in love. "Reese without Crews," he'd repeated to himself, shaking his head and making a face.

Someone passing him on the way into the building gave him a look – one like he used to get when he talked to himself a lot. She did that to him, unsettled him. He remembered not to talk to himself anymore on the elevator ride to their floor where he hoped to find her. Ostensibly he could claim that he only came there to get his car from the parking garage, but really he came to see her.

She'd know it, but she'd let him lie about it and never call him on it. But she wasn't there, Tidwell told him gleefully, with just a bit too much of a smile at the degree of surprise on Crews' face. "She didn't come back did she?" the Captain questioned so very sure of himself. "She's like that, she runs," Tidwell commented.

Part of Charlie was pissed that Tidwell thought he knew her; another part of him feared the other man was right. Dani did leave without much comment that morning and even as confident as he was…fear tickled the back of his brain.

_What if she meant "we can't" – ever? _

Tidwell's short snuffed laugh let him know he'd pondered it too long with an audience. "She leaves everybody, dude. Don't feel bad. She is an excellent lay though - isn't she?"

That was when Charlie hit him, just once, but sharply and hard - square in the face. Tidwell staggered back and held his hand to his nose and mouth. It came away bloody. Luckily it was late and they were alone.

Tidwell did not attempt to prolong the fight. Instead he laughed and commented, "Okay, yeah…I had that coming. You love her."

Charlie spun on his heel and left using the stairs, no need to wait for the elevator when you're spun up and uncertain, just more time to think about why she didn't come back, why she didn't call.


	12. Chapter 12

In the car, he fingered his phone and twice chickened out. She knew his number; she didn't call. _Was she avoiding him?_ He drove past her house twice before he decided to knock. Now she was shocked to see him and he hadn't a plan beyond finding her, seeing her. _Stupid stunt, Crews_ he thought.

"Uh…you're busy," he said peering into her cluttered living room.

That part of Dani always spooked him, the clutter, the detritus that was her life. His life and all it's trappings had been entirely burnt away. Now he kept little so that if he lost it all again, there would be less to miss.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he stammered, "at work." He added the last bit in the vain hope that she wouldn't think he expected her to come back to his house. He failed in all regards.

"Oh, no you don't," she grabbed his arm. "Get in here," she demanding pulling him through the door by his elbow. "What's the matter?" She asked curiously.

He wrung his neck and looked at the floor. "I…uh…thought about what you said…"

He glanced up and noticed her watching him with an amused expression on her face.

"I say a lot of things," she let him twist a moment longer. "Which this was that?"

"We can't," he pronounced solidly and held her eyes.

She wasn't surprised; she knew precisely what he meant. "Close the door, Crews," she instructed as she turned to walk back to her work.

He shut the door and her house was quiet enough that he could hear the soft snick as the lock settled into place.

"And you thought I meant….what exactly?" She enjoyed torturing him to a degree. She sat down and went back to work.

He said nothing and shifted uncomfortably on the balls of his feet. Now that he was here, he just wanted to leave.

"Crews," she barked getting his attention. "Sit down," she ordered.

He was used to obeying her order before…not so much now. He hesitated for a moment and she watched him closely, but in the end he did as she wished. Stepping over a pile of papers, he chose a seat opposite her in a single chair that wrapped around him and covered his back. It was like bunkering in. He was protecting himself - they both knew it.

"I've been investigating your friend on the bike," she explained neatly sidestepping his real reason for being there. "Turns out there are a lot of motorcycles with 6L3 in the plate," she gestured to the piles of paper. "I don't think our guy is a Harley type," she began.

"No," he confirmed suddenly quite interested, "wrong engine sound."

Luckily Crews had a one track mind when it came to crime so it was easy to divert his decidedly personal bent back to their shared interest in the "robbery that wasn't." His observation hadn't registered with her before, but now reflecting he was right. There was no "potato, potato, potato" sound she associated with the low thrumming Harley engines.

"Okay, so those over there are out," she gestured to a pile of papers on the floor by her kitchen table. "These are the rest," she pointed at three separate piles, "women registered owners, rice rockets, and old guys. I was about to exclude those too."

"Which leaves how many?" he inquired levelly.

"About 360," she sighed.

"You've been busy," the admiration in his tone was sincere.

"Yeah," she leaned back and sipped her coffee. No need to tell her tall red haired partner that most of the heavy lifting was done by yet another guy trying to get in her pants.

"Want some help?" he offered.

"It's kinda late," she looked at her watch.

Suddenly he was nervous again and the tenseness showed in the strap muscles of his neck and a tiny frown that marred his freckled face. "Right, I should go then," he said standing.

"How about you don't?" she said coyly.

"No?" he questioned. "I thought we couldn't…." he tried to understand.

"Understand this," she walked to stand under his chin. "I am never going to be one of your doe-eyed fawning groupies. I don't sit home wondering if you're gonna call. Do you understand me Crews?" She was confident and playful and completely in charge, as she always was – except when she wasn't.

It was going to take a lifetime to figure all her moves out but it was one he was willing to commit to. There was still however one hurdle to overcome and it was going to cost him. "I punched Tidwell in the mouth tonight," he blurted out.

Her hands on her hips and head cocked to the side she questioned him, "why?"

"He said something about you I didn't like," he confessed.

"What?"

"What?" he repeated, buying himself time. He was now sorry that he'd confessed. He did not want to tell her what Tidwell said that caused such an immediate and stupid, jealous reaction from him.

"What did he say about me, Charlie?"

He blushed and broke eye contact. He opened his mouth twice to speak but the words would not come. Finally, he closed his eyes and forced the words out, "he said you were an excellent lay."

"I am," she purred from very close to his chest. His eyes snapped open and she was there with her hand in his. "Now, come to bed." She tugged on his hand and he came willingly.


	13. Chapter 13

**Aquarius – Chapter 12**

She led him into her bedroom by the hand, dropped his hand and walked into that bathroom; he guessed to change clothes for bed. He stood there awkwardly wondering what would happen next. She didn't seem particularly interested in him at the moment. Perhaps she viewed him as one did a lost puppy that needed taking care of. _Bad thought_ he decided.

He heard the water running and her brushing her teeth. It was weird to be in Reese's room while she was doing something as mundane as brushing her teeth so he distracted himself by looking around. He wasn't exactly sure what he expected Dani Reese's bedroom to look like, but it wasn't this. Her room held a full or queen sized bed with a quilt and a couple of throw pillows, nothing too girlie for her – that seemed right. What surprised him was the painting over her bed; it was vibrant, eclectic and fierce. It was as if, all the wildness in her spilled onto that canvas. He found himself wondering where she'd found something like that.

She emerged from the bathroom wearing a hockey jersey and nothing else. His eyes got lost in her legs and although he knew he was caught he couldn't seem to look away. She smiled mischievously, "you gonna wear all that to bed?"

"Uh," he looked down at himself and then up at her, "what should I wear?"

"This morning – you did just fine with nothing at all," she demurred.

"So you want me to strip down to nothing and then what?" he wondered. "You throw me out on the front lawn?" He wasn't feeling welcome, not like this morning. Dani seemed unapproachable almost catlike in her indifference toward him.

"Wear what you want," she shrugged. "Stay, go, your choice," she sat on the edge of the bed and clicked off the lamp by her bedside plunging them into inky twilight. "I'm not one of those girls who chase you Crews," she commented wryly.

His confidence returned with the darkness. She hadn't thrown him out. He decided it was worth the effort to try. He pulled off his t-shirt and shucked his shoes. He sat down on the bed and pulled her towards him, "then what kind of girl are you exactly?" he rumbled closer than she'd realized.

"The kind that drives you crazy," she whispered across his temple as her short nails drug along the side of his scalp careful to avoid the gash on the back of his head. She wove her fingers into his hair and confessed, "I want you to stay, but I'm not gonna fight with you."

"I'm not here to fight and I'm always with you," he promised. "Don't you know that? Don't you feel it?"

She didn't answer him, instead she once again sidestepped his attempt to engage her in a serious conversation about them, who they were together and where this was going. He tried not to be angry or disappointed and changed tactics.

"Tell me something," he gathered her close, but didn't attempt anything sexual. Dani tonight didn't send him that sort of signal.

She sighed and almost said, "you first," but restrained herself. It had been a long day, a long couple of days and he didn't deserve her anger. She settled for a simple, neutral, "what?"

'The painting? The one over your bed? Where did you get it?"

"Why?" she asked yawning. She was tired but suddenly very curious.

"It's as if someone opened your heart and poured it onto that canvas," he told her in the dark his voice a low timbre of closeness. She said nothing so he continued. "It's vibrant and hectic and powerful and fierce and wild and yet still beautiful and complex and tangled."

"Wow," she remarked. She turned in his arms and snuggled into his chest, mimicking the position they'd awoken in eighteen hours earlier. She yawned and wrapped his arm around her middle.

He got the message and pulled her close. He didn't think she'd answer, but he tried again anyway. "So…" he asked for the answer once again.

"I didn't get it," she said sleepily. "I painted it," and that was all she said as her breathing leveled out and she fell fast asleep in his arms.

Part of him was stunned at a new facet of Dani he'd never known, seen or sensed. Another part of him was gratified she felt that safe with him, but yet another part of him wondered if he'd ever get past second base with his partner or if she was holding him at bay on purpose.


	14. Chapter 14

**Aquarius – Chapter 14**

He woke and she was gone (again). The house was silent, no running water, no television, no voice, just empty air; then he remembered it was Saturday, their day off. He rolled onto his side and began a silent, but deliberate observation of the sights and sounds and smells of this moment. He wanted to remember being in her bed, her house, her presence like this for the first time. It was still early, the dawn just breaking weakly through her windows and he could smell coffee from the kitchen. She wasn't readying for work; she was already working. For just a moment, he allowed himself the luxury of wondering what it would be like to wake up with Reese every morning, but then he realized if she wasn't in his arms he'd always wonder first if she was gone - again. Wryly he realized he was doing his level best to achieve "one night at a time" and trying to extend his streak.

He stretched and other than a few stiff spots and the stitched up gash on the back of his head, he felt good. The injury was tender to his probing fingers, he could feel the stiff line that held his scalp together and the fine hairs they'd shaved before stitching him up. Getting sutures on your head was different from getting them on your belly or your back – messier and yet somehow closer to reality. Other than being a little sensitive to touch and shooting pains in his head when the sunlight hit him directly in his eyes he felt fine. He'd never touched the pain meds they'd given him a prescription for.

He sat up and found himself comfortable in just his jeans - no shirt and he was barefoot. He rose and stretched again. He found himself drawn once again to Dani's painting. He stood at the foot of her rumpled bed with his hands jammed in the pockets of his jeans and examined the beautiful chaos on canvas. That was what she was to him. She was uncontrolled and uncontrollable, wild, beautiful – just like life. He realized he had to stop trying to steer her, protect her, to control her. She'd be just fine – she always had been. He just wanted to be permitted close enough to bask in that wild heat and revel in the passion that she approached everything in life with.

He padded quietly out of the bedroom to find her and once more bask in the circle of his dark sun as watched her work. It had been several months since he'd simply watched her work. It still impressed him – her focus and determination. She stood examining a single sheet of paper in the middle of her tiny kitchen table; a frown marred her pretty features as her brain worked a problem and conundrum or a mystery. Her arms were wrapped around her middle and she held a pale blue porcelain mug in her hand. He focused on the woman, not the work. She was perfect, flawed but perfect – for him.

She noticed him and it annoyed her – he could tell. But he knew now - in a way he hadn't last night that her annoyance wasn't with him. It was with herself, an internal struggle she was losing. She was perturbed that she could no longer pretend – that he wasn't there, that she didn't love him and that they weren't together. Dani liked being alone and he was the loner that she found herself at home with, the one she noticed and could not shut out. Dani liked the darkness, he was the light she hid from, but he also held darkness within and that drew her to him.

He walked deliberately to her, ignored her ire and the way she bristled when he wrapped his arms around her. He pressed a soft kiss to the back of her neck where the wisps of her hair escaped their rubber band prison and murmured "morning" against her skin. He made no value judgment in his statement – he couldn't tell what sort of morning it was going to be but she was clearly already agitated. He kissed her again, more slowly and was rewarded as felt her tenseness ease. She fought it, but he was stealing the agitation from her.

"Crews," she warned.

"Charlie, " he corrected.

She sighed again and surrendered. She transferred the coffee cup to the counter and turned in his arms. She buried her head against his chest, her smooth cheek pressed there and her warm breath fluttering against his bicep as she exhaled what could have been a mantra, but was just his name, "Charlie."

He smiled into her hair and kissed her there. He waited for the rest.

She did not disappoint. "I found something," she confessed.

"I know," he told her.

For just a moment, neither of them cared about what she'd found, about what was on that innocent sheet of paper or where it would lead them; they just clung to one another and listened to the silence. Then she lifted her head and looked into his eyes, "I love you."

That he was not expecting, but he smiled and repeated his words, "I know." Her eyes were calm and soft, he leaned down and softly brushed her lips - a half a kiss that said, "I love you too" without the words. Then he led her where she wanted to go, where they both needed to go, urging her quietly, "Now show me what you've found."


	15. Chapter 15

**Aquarius – Chapter 15**

She told him nothing; she didn't want to prejudice him. She simply pushed the paper toward him and waited while he read it. She watched him as the knowledge sunk in. She'd had the whole morning to get accustomed to the idea and it still unsettled her. It would be a sucker punch for him.

His pale freckled hands framed the page. One of his fingers trembled slightly, the only outward sign of distress. Most people would have missed it, but she wasn't most people and she cared about him in a way she thought she'd lost the capability to feel. She watched his eyes change colors and could tell he was disturbed. Charlie's eyes were his tell; she'd known that about him for longer than she'd known anything else. Happy, excited Charlie's eyes were electric blue, concerned his eyes were a pale aquamarine, and confused they became sea green like they were now. Otherwise there was no signal of the enormity of the disclosure and it's effect on him. For the rest of the world, his mask worked. But not with her, not anymore that more than anything had been the catalyst for her unprompted disclosure.

She hadn't planned to tell him, it just came out. It was an apology of sorts an "I'm about to hurt you, so let me first confess that I don't want to." She wasn't particularly romantic about the idea and the setting wasn't amorous, but it was heartfelt and it did surprise the lanky redhead – and pleased him even though he was careful not to be too excited about it. She sensed him holding back to allow her to get used to the idea, but in truth she'd known it for far longer than either of them wanted to acknowledge.

He stared at the black and white print on the page. He planted both palms on the table overlaying the page, framing it with his thumbs. He leaned closer just to make sure he was reading it correctly, his eyes narrowed and the blue in them faded leaving only the curious and confused green.

"Is this…" he began.

"Yes," she replied patiently with a touch of sadness.

"Are you sure…" he started.

"Yes," she told him again.

"But this looks…." he objected.

"Bad," she concurred.

"He's Bobby's…." he deliberately didn't finish this thought this time knowing she'd do it for him.

"Partner, I know," she replied levelly. She knew how hard this was for him, but part of him knew it – expected it.

"You know it is really irritating…" the corners of his mouth turned up.

"When I finish your sentences?" she smiled. "No shit. Welcome to my life, Crews."

He did this exact same thing to her frequently and she hated it. Part of her was amused by the way she was getting her revenge, but she was careful not to gloat. She kept him balanced in a way no one and nothing else could and she did it without conscious thought. She felt him, his moods, his soft spots. She knew him, she loved him and he began to feel the reality of her personal disclosure as the professional pain sunk in.


	16. Chapter 16

**Aquarius – Chapter 16**

"Tell me," he urged.

"I checked," she answered curtly. "He wasn't on duty then, neither of them were," she answered his half asked question, firm demand. They were in reverse roles now – she knew the answers and he held only questions. "It's no coincidence he was on the bike. He's part of this – whatever this is."

He nodded, but said nothing.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm thinking about Bobby," he confessed.

She tried to suppress the disappointed sigh but failed. She no longer cared to pretend for him. She had little patience for Crews' former partner and less affection for him than she did road kill – and he knew it.

"What?" he questioned. There was annoyance, a seldom-used emotion, in his voice.

"Why do you care? He betrayed you," she snapped. It still angered her, what Stark had done – or more precisely – what he had not done. It took one guy to stand up for Crews and Stark was that guy and he failed. In her opinion, he was a coward and he didn't deserve Charlie's devotion, affection, friendship or loyalty.

"Loyalty speaks to the loyal - not those to whom they protect," he said patiently. "If I become only a reaction to the wrongs done to me – then who am I?"

She knew he was right, but she didn't have to like. "Okay, fine…" she was still peeved. The strain was apparent in her voice, but she let it go.

"And…" he softly chided continuing the lesson, "Bobby has a wife. Leslie – and three little boys," he wandered and didn't finish. In his head he was seeing Tom and Paula Seybolt and little Tommy drowned in a sea of blood in their home – a place they were supposed to be safe. He didn't explain himself to most people, there was no way they'd understand and no way he could make them see, but with Dani he tried.

After a long moment, he added, "I've already seen one family pay that price."

Now she felt ashamed. She walked to him, gathered his large hands into her small tanned ones and asked a hard question very gently, "How do you know he's not involved?"

He considered his instinct a moment and then tried to describe it. "Bobby's too afraid. He was too scared to help me, his partner. Do you really think he'd have enough guts to be involved in a complex criminal conspiracy? Do you really believe they'd allow him to be part of it? Someone that weak, that easily manipulated and played?"

He had a good point and that plus the blue seeping back into his eyes won her over.

"So…do you think he knows?"

"That his partner, that Juarez - is a bag man for whoever is trying to knock over the Bank of LA again….not a chance," Charlie said confidently. "And we can't tell him," he warned.

"But I thought…" she started.

"I said he was weak," he explained. "He still is. We can't tell him. He can't know."

"Even if his family is in danger?" she argued.

"They won't be," he vowed. "We'll figure this out. We'll protect them."

She sighed and told him a hard truth, "Crews…you can't even protect me or yourself. That's an illusion – one of the few you allow yourself. The thought, the idea you can protect others. You can't."

"I won't stop trying," he promised.

"I know," she said softly. "It's one of the things I love most about you," she leaned in and kissed him. "Now….put on some clothes so you can buy me breakfast and we can figure out how we catch these bastards."

He grinned. She knew just how to bring him to face his foils and then to buoy him into the next moment. There was no one who'd ever been a truer partner to him in any way than Dani Reese. "Yes, ma'am," he snapped and saluted with two fingers.

He retreated into the bedroom to find the rest of his clothes and she began straightening the hurricane paper that covered her living room and putting them back in the box.

"Crews?" she shouted at him so he could hear.

"Uh-huh," came his grunted reply.

"Who robbed the Bank of LA the first time?"

He leaned around the doorframe with a toothbrush in his mouth and toothpaste foaming and said to her "Rayborne."

She blinked, absorbing what he'd said.

He kept brushing and watching her.

"But not just Rayborne?"

He nodded.

"Rayborne and other cops?"

He nodded again.

"Cops like my father?"

Once more he nodded solemnly.

"Is that my toothbrush?" she questioned again.

And again he simply nodded. This time he disappear to spit and rinse. "I'll buy you a new one," he promised as he kissed her minty fresh.

"Umm, hmm," she agreed as her hand wove behind his neck and she enjoyed the slick feeling of his teeth with her tongue.

They got lost in that moment for a while and when they broke he asked her something that he desperately wanted to know, "Dani….are you ever gonna have sex with me?"

"You know... this is the first time…I've ever loved someone before jumping into bed with them," she divulged. "I'd kinda like to enjoy that."

"For how long?" he wondered.

She just smiled and kept her secret. He'd wait forever for her – they both knew it.


	17. Chapter 17

**Aquarius – Chapter 17**

Charlie went home after breakfast. He told her that he needed a change of clothes and a long shower. But what he really needed was time to think – about Juarez, about Rayborn and about Reese. After a long hot shower and a fresh change of clothes, he descended the sweeping stairs in his house and entered his kitchen. But he found he couldn't think – as he'd promised; he was antsy. He was also annoyed at himself. For while his mind should have been occupied with the new tantalizing puzzle piece and where it led; instead it was occupied with his tantalizing yet unattainable partner.

Desire…attachment…longing… Zen taught these were neither useful nor productive; it taught they brought nothing but pain…and yet.

Dani said absolutely nothing to him when he dropped her at home after a pleasant breakfast: scrambled eggs for him, poached for her; tea for him, coffee for her; fruit for him; bacon for her. They'd both forgone the toast, neither had much use for it. The only place they agreed. The only place their divergent tastes converged. Him light; her dark - they were so very different in some ways and so much alike in others.

She wasn't annoyed, disappointed, upset or even surprised when they parted company. She didn't say where she was going – if anywhere – or with whom. She'd simply squeezed his arm, climbed from the car and disappeared without another word. Part of her hoped she'd object. But she didn't.

Now he wanted to be – somewhere else, so he wouldn't be here. Because his "here" meant an empty house, no criminals to chase, no puzzles to solve and no Dani Reese. He went instead where he always went when he was restless. He went in search of trouble. He went in search of Rayborne.

* * *

They had a pleasant breakfast, one in which they didn't talk about work, vast criminal conspiracies or Zen. He was winsome and charming and all the things the men she usually dated weren't. Then she realized she didn't usually date, she usually skipped the preliminaries and went straight to fucking.

She unlocked her door and walked inside her apartment. She didn't look back.

She waited until she was inside and peered unobtrusively through her blinds. He sat with his sunglasses slipped down on his nose watching until she was safely inside and then drove off. He was a gentleman – and at times he was a thug, a menacing ex-con who could kill with his bare hands and not leave a mark. She wondered what triggered the conversion and if he could control it or was a slave to it like she was her own darkness.

There wasn't a time she could remember that she didn't feel Crews in her space, a physical presence, but never a threat. That was long before she realized she was in love with her partner and he with her. She'd never not slept with a man she was attracted to for this long – and she was seriously attracted to him even though he was not her usual type. But then there was nothing usual about Charlie Crews.

He was pale and fair, freckled and smiling, he was kind and capable of such drastic extremes. His eyes, his smile and (she suspected) his soul held lightness and terror, fierceness and frivolity. There were times he could still be smiling and yet appear vicious and threatening – it was a characteristic in him that she adored. His darkness was hidden, masked but not gone – much like her's – it hid and it waited. She loved him, she was sure of it and she'd told him as much, but she held something back from him, from their being together. _Why?_

_Was it that he was beyond saving? That he didn't want saving? Didn't need it? Was it that she knew he'd keep chasing his past and like a dog who chased cars – never catch it or worse yet on the day that he did it would hurt, possibly kill him? Could her heart once given to this Zen warrior ever be whole again without him?_


	18. Chapter 18

**Aquarius – Chapter 18**

Rayborne was sitting on the deck of his boat in the sun when Crews walked up the gangplank and came aboard. "You're supposed to ask permission, kiddo," Rayborne joked darkly. Charlie's quizzical look required him to explain "to board…the boat. You're supposed to say 'permission to come aboard."

"Is that so?" Crews replied somewhat acerbically.

"Never seen any movies about the Navy?

"No, I have not," Charlie said coolly. "Wasn't into the Village People either," he shot back a joke of his own.

"Oh," Rayborne mocked grabbing his chest, "he jokes."

"How is it that you spend so much time in the sun?" Crews gestured broadly to the boat deck, "and yet you're as pale as me?"

Rayborn just smiled smugly, but did not answer.

Crews repeated the comment to himself, almost under his breath; almost, but not quite. There was a nugget of truth buried there – it tickled at his brain and whispered around the corner of an idea. His blue eyes flickered with curiosity and noticed Rayborne's pale blue eyes watching him intently. Charlie inclined his head in question.

"Some day I'll tell you, son," the older man smiled, "everything." His smile was almost warm.

"You can't," Crews stated, "tell me everything." Rayborne was amused, until Crews finished his comment, "you can't tell me everything because you don't know everything."

The smile turned sneer ass Rayborne replied, "some day, not today." Rayborne kept his secrets and his money close. "Now tell me why you're here," the older man insisted. "Not just to visit Uncle Mickey is it?"

Charlie's eyes hardened at this comment. His lips tightened into a grimace, "no."

"You're here because you want something," Rayborne guessed but he sounded sure about it.

"I'm here because I want information," Crews repeated - as was his fashion.

"Go on," Rayborn laughed, "ask away."

"Juarez," Crews stated.

"Smart lad, a bit like you, only more cooperative," Rayborne smiled. "Bright future," he commented.

"With the LAPD? Or with you?"

"Why not both?"

"You gonna rob the Bank of LA again Rayborne?" Crews glowered.

"Who says I robbed it the first time Detective?" Rayborne countered.

"I do," Crews snapped his words off sharply.

"Ah…Can't prove it though - can you?" Rayborne's sneer was ugly and yet somehow familiar. "And cops who can't prove their cases get their asses handed to them by pricey defense counsels don't they kiddo?"

Crews said nothing, but his posture was stiff and threatening.

"Fifty million dollars of payback just isn't enough for you is it?"

"It never will be," Crews replied. Anger rested in his features and it was comfortable there. "You can't buy back the things I lost."

"Hmm, but you can lose those you have now - by lusting after the past," Rayborne mused questioning him without waiting for a reply. He had a subtle way of delivering a threat that made it harder to see coming. "Do you know the story of Aquarius, The Water Bearer?"

Crews was mute and still as a stone statue

Rayborne spun an ancient tale, "there was a beautiful shepherd boy that enchanted Zeus. He was straight and true and honorable; all the things a young man should be. Zeus sent an eagle to fetch the boy from the fields to serve as cupbearer for the god of the gods. He lives now in the night sky and in legend forever."

"What's that got to do with Juarez?"

"You," Rayborne said sharply. Crews' tone chaffed him. He'd tried to give the man the world and Crews wouldn't take it. He eased and continued, "You – Charlie – you were that boy," he smiled and it seemed as though it were genuine.

"I don't want that," Crews scowled. "I never did."

"This boy does," Rayborne revealed. "He will happily sit at the hand of his god and serve."

"And Stark?"

"That buffoon?" Rayborne joked. "He's of little consequence. A pawn," he said dismissively. Charlie turned to leave and Rayborn stopped him with a word, "but…"

"But what?" Crews asked gritting his teeth and pivoting on the balls of his feet.

"I have question of my own," Rayborn raised his brow. Crews did not speak, but he did not leave, so Rayborne continued. "Reese?"

"He's dead." Crews said flatly. "Haven't you heard?"

"Not that Reese," Rayborn chuckled, "the other one."

Crews played dumb. He fought the impulse to shrug noncommittally.

"Don't," Rayborne warned, "I know you're fucking her."

He felt the blood rush to his skin and crimson flush heat his body. He saw red, he felt it and he clenched and unclenched his fists. He raised his eyes to the bright sun hoping the yellow sun would burn away the red. Just as suddenly, he spun sharply and stalked away.

Rayborne shouted after him laughing, "invite me to the wedding okay. I'd love to see Dani Reese in white after her illustrious career of sport fucking half the department."

Crews stormed off the ship, down the dock and walked thrice around his car before he calmed down enough to get into it. Everything Rayborne said was true, except the part about them. _Why everyone,_ he knew it couldn't be everyone, but for the sake of internal argument he wondered…_why everyone else and not me?_ He had no answer, only deep questions about his partner and he loved her still.


	19. Chapter 19

**Aquarius – Chapter 19**

She spent her Saturday afternoon with her mother. They went to the cleaners, the market and the butcher. Her mother coaxed her into tea, but she made her excuses and left before she could be dragged into dinner with her cousins who were due at 6PM. Something about being dragged into a family occasion didn't appeal to her.

She was looking forward to a quiet evening alone, no Tidwell, no Crews – just her, a bathtub and some really nice bubbles, maybe a book and she was staying away from any temptation. The pounding on her door surprised her. The phone hadn't rung, which was unusual.

"Open the door, Reese," Crews demanded. He sounded angry and Crews was almost never angry not with her.

"What's happened?" she answered his demand with one of her own as soon as she could see his face. His exasperated sigh was not the answer she was looking for. She rephrased, "are you okay?"

"Why?" he asked.

"Why what?" she snapped. "What in the hell has gotten into you?"

"You," he replied. His skin was flushed. He was nervous in addition to agitated, "I shouldn't have come here."

He turned to leave and she once again arrested him by grabbing his elbow. "Wait, just a goddamned minute," she was now pissed off herself.

He looked down at her hand on his arm. Stay or go – either way she'd be with him. He carried her with him everywhere he went now and yet she put him more on edge than any person on the planet. Breathing deeply to calm himself, he tried to walk back from his spur of the moment intrusion, "let go of me."

"What if I can't?" she asked concern overpowering her irritation.

He pulled away from her, started walking to his car and then thought better of it. He turned and she was standing in her doorway, hands on her hips, angry pout on her lips and fire in her eyes. He wanted her in a feral animalistic way, the way he'd been when he first got out.

Then he reached into his pocket and pulled it out – the picture of her and Rayborne the boat. He'd torn it in half before, it didn't matter and then it did. She'd been with so many others, he didn't care about that…. _Okay, he did a little, but why everyone else except him? _

Jennifer deserted him; Constance betrayed him and then there was her – the one who held his heart in her tiny little hands and squeezed it for fun. He dropped the photo on her lawn and pulled himself away from the one thing he wanted with all his heart, with an all-consuming need that overpowered everything he thought was important. He just turned his back and walked away.


	20. Chapter 20

**Aquarius – Chapter 20**

It had been a long time since she'd been this mad at him; but it wasn't really all that long ago. Everything was so much more intense with him. Time passed both more quickly and more slowly. He jumbled her insides up in a way no man had - since him. Her first love, the man who nearly cost her everything, her job, her life, her sanity. His obsession was drugs; Crews' was revenge.

She walked to the yard and picked up the photograph that Crews tossed onto the dry summer grass. She heard the throaty rumble of his car as he left her street, maybe her life. Her breath caught in her throat. It was a picture of her captured on Rayborne boat. She was wearing a long jacket and sunglasses. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her middle and she was looking around furtively. She'd been nervous just being there – it showed.

Then she examined the photo closely as she walked back to her home - alone.

It had been torn then taped back together. It bore signs of worry, fingerprints on the glossy surface. The prints were lithe and long and she knew without a doubt they belonged to Crews and that he'd spent many hours worrying over and examining the image. She'd been shown similar images of him at the FBI. They'd made her think, doubt him. That was what they wanted.

But her heart overcame those thoughts, those suggestions, those inferences and then he'd done the unthinkable – made her feelings come to life. He'd sacrificed himself for her. He'd demonstrated his love before acknowledging it, before professing it, maybe even before knowing it.

They never spoke of it. It was as if it never happened, but that she knew it and remembered it. It was the spark of love that had grown into the roaring fire that warmed her now. It replaced the anger and the fear. It replaced the self-loathing and the punishments she sought because she felt she deserved them.

She had to fix this - he was too important to lose. They'd become too intertwined to differentiate where he ended and she began. She dressed and readied herself for battle. For where she was headed she could have worn a suit of armor and he'd still find a way to hurt her. She was going to see Rayborne and she wasn't leaving until she had answers - lots of them.


	21. Chapter 21

**Aquarius – Chapter 21**

Charlie went home – straight home. He'd found or created enough trouble for one day and still it felt like earthquake weather. No telling what might happen next. He needed to meditate and find his center now more than any time in the past month.

He seated himself facing the setting LA sun as it appeared to dip into the Pacific like a shiny pen nib dipped in ink.

_What story would the sun write when again she rose?_

He breathed deeply and his eyes slipped closed. The orange of the sun burned through his lids coloring his thoughts. He thought about oranges and love and what that meant – or more appropriately what it had meant to him. He loved oranges. He loved Dani. Love meant good things, like sweetness, juiciness, sex, kissing, release and then flashes of her, her hair, her body, her skin, their rhythm together came to mind. Those were fleeting, transitory, like lightning illuminating a dark sky.

Only bad things endured; betrayal, pain, anguish, heartbreak. But those were neither oranges nor his partner, those came from the deep darkness that pervaded. He began to wonder if he'd ever really known the love the poets and playwrights spoke of, the one they wrote love songs and ballads about. He knew romance, lust, pursuit, but perhaps not and perhaps never… love. Until now.

He loved her…and yet. His love was also tarnish by jealousy and distrust. Had she done anything worthy of his reaction?

She'd gone to Rayborne's boat, so had he.

She'd been with other men, so had he…._well, not men, _his mind corrected, _but plenty of women_ and it was the same difference.

She'd never betrayed him and in his heart he knew she never would.

What he feared was in the past. The ghost of Jennifer haunted him.

So was the fault here hers or was it his? He wasn't good at relationships, not experienced at them either. She didn't have a stellar track record, but she seemed willing to try. Was he pursuing her or pushing her away? Or both – simultaneously?

He settled himself again and strove to push her, them, everything else from his thoughts. It took time and great effort.

Beads of sweat collected on his brow dripping into his eyes, salt stained his lashes like tears he refused to shed they found their way out despite him. Sweat rolled down his neck soaking the t-shirt collar and creating a pattern like a Rorschach on his back. He sat still and quiet as the sun slipped from the sky and the moon rose. He breathed deeply and tried to think of nothing and no one.


	22. Chapter 22

**Aquarius – Chapter 22**

Dani Reese was a woman on a mission. She raged onto Mickey Rayborne's boat like a hurricane.

"What the fuck is this?" she demanded of the dapper older man dining with his bodyguard on the deck of his rather large yacht. She threw the tattered photograph on the silver dining service he was consuming shrimp from with flourish. "You had me photographed? Why?"

"Hello dear," he wiped his mouth with a linen napkin and pushed back from his meal. "Won't you join me?"

Dani shook her head no vigorously and stood hands on her hips, lips pursed and brow furrowed.

"Don't be impolite, Dani," Rayborne smiled. "Sit…please."

Begrudgingly she took a seat opposite him and the bodyguard poured her bubbling water from a green Pellegrino bottle. She tired to brush the man aside. "Stop that, I don't want….I'm not here to socialize."

He stopped for just a moment and Rayborn nodded and the man continued to pour.

"I said…." she began to rise.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Rayborne chided and dismissed the man with a wave of his hand. "Very well, have it your way, you usually do."

She was both perplexed and angered by his comment, but she stayed focused. "Explain that photo," she demanded.

Rayborne picked up the print and examined it closely. He knew what was it was, when it was taken and why it was given to Crews, but he pretended for her sake. He studied for longer than she thought he should as she shifted uncomfortably watching him.

Rayborne was dressed in crisp chinos, a pink button down oxford shirt open at the collar and a navy blazer. His strawberry blonde hair was neatly combed and his pale blue eyes scanned the photo before flickering up to meet her.

"My security team took this the day you came to visit me," he told her what she already knew.

"How'd Crews get it?"

"I made sure he got it," Rayborn smiled and all his teeth showed.

"Why?"

"Because…my dear," he grinned. "If you are going to be with my favored son, then I need to know if you are with him – or not," Rayborne explained drolly.

"Your son?" Dani asked incredulously.

"Figure of speech, Dani," Rayborne couched rolling his eyes. "Do none of you read literature?"

Her dark eyes blazed back at him, but she remained mute.

"I chose Charlie, when he was still just a young man. He was impressive, virile, strong, true, brave and I must admit headstrong. He was to succeed me. All this," Rayborne gestured around him, "could have been his."

"He doesn't want it," she stated coolly.

"And how do you know that?" Rayborne toyed with her.

Immediately Dani broke eye contact and looked down.

"You know that because you love him," Rayborne said with complete confidence.

Her head snapped up and she looked ready to leap across the table and throttle him.

"Oh, had I only waited for you…my dear," the tenor of his voice was amused but he did not smile. "You have all the same qualities he did, but you have flaws he did not," he smiled and it made her skin crawl. "You I would have owned, but he I could not."

"Why Crews?" she pressed interrupting him.

"Why not, Crews?" he countered.

She fell silent, apparently out of questions, but her fire still burned.

"Why did you come here Dani?"

"The same reason I came here before," she gestured at the photo. "Every one is after Crews – the Department, my father, you… First the FBI showed me photos of him and you, him and my father, him and Carl Ames trying to make me think…."

"Yes," Rayborne interrupted, "trying to make you think, Dani. And have you?"

She scowled furiously.

"Have you thought about what kind of man Charlie Crews really is? Not who he pretends to be, but who he really truly is?"

"I know who he is," she stubbornly objected.

"Do you now?" Rayborne chuckled. "Your father and I were friends once, good friends, perhaps even great friends. If he could see you now…with Crews….well…" he didn't finish the sentence, he didn't need to. Jack Reese would be seething with anger at her relationship with her partner. Her father would be disappointed in her – again.

"I know who he is…" she said but less certain that before. "He's my partner."

"A cop…yes. That's one of his faces," Rayborne countered, "but he's also a con."

Her face flushed red and she suddenly wanted to visit violence on Rayborne, but she lacked the tools Charlie had. She was small and weaker than the men on the boat. There were times when she wised for the coiled violent streak that her partner held inside like a vicious jack in the box.

"For something he didn't even do!" she raised her voice and then realized how far shouts carry on the water and quieted, but her fierceness remained. She spit the words at his through teeth clenched so hard her jaw hurt, "You and my father sent an innocent man to prison for something he didn't even do."

"Innocent? Perhaps he was once….but he's no longer innocent, Dani. He's a killer," Rayborne said quietly and let the insidious thought sink in; permeate her brain which was on fire at the moment. "You do know that?"

"Yes," she hissed.

"And?"

"I love him," she shot back the only argument that mattered.

It was ludicrous that she was even having this discussion with Rayborne.

"Finally!" Rayborne seemed victorious. "Well…go love him then; if that's what you want; if you think it'll make you happy."

"What do you care?" she again tried to ferret out the unexplainable interest Rayborne had in her partner.

"Oh, I care, sweetheart," he laughed. "I'll always care about my…" he schooled his features and his tongue, "…interests."

"What do I have to do so that you'll leave him alone?"

"Honestly? Just make him happy...so he'll leave me alone. Forget this vendetta of his. I can't fight half the city and Charlie Crews – it's tiring. I'm an old man." She didn't buy his argument for a second but she was out of options, questions and this still didn't begin to fix what was going on between her and Crews.

Rayborne watched as the fiery young woman chewed her bottom lip and seemed to consider his offer. He really should have waited for Jack Reese's daughter – she would have been able to take over the reins of his business. She was ruthless, intelligent and her personal foibles would have made her easy to recruit. He'd misjudged both Crews and the young woman who stood before him.

Together they were a juggernaut he could not compete against. Only peace and happiness would satiate their collective hungers for revenge and excitement. That was the key to neutralizing them as a threat and Rayborne played the long game. He had so much more than Jane Seever's fifteen-year plan in his vest pocket.

For now, he had Juarez and leverage – if he could make the two stubborn Detectives stop hunting him and fighting each other which was easier said than done. He'd known the depth of Crews' feeling for his partner, long before the tall redhead acknowledged it. She was the tool that would bring him to his knees, one way or another.

For now, this was all he needed – for them to find and cling to one another - two broken people who fit together perfectly.

He cleared his throat and summarily dismissed her, "Now, if you'll excuse me I have some previous business engagements at my club this evening. Good night Detective." The bodyguard who'd previously made himself scarce reappeared seemingly out of thin air to escort her or if necessary throw her off the ship.

Rayborne's pieces were in play now; he had to be patient and let the game play out.


	23. Chapter 23

**Aquarius – Chapter 23**

She stalked down the dock, still angry, but with a plan forming in her mind. A way, maybe the only way to get him back was to stop holding something back, to stop trying to protect what was left of her chipped and splintered glass heart. She climbed into her little Toyota and pointed the car across town determined to find him.

She went looking for him in the only place she knew he'd seek refuge – his castle, his asylum. That place where he could hide in plain sight, behind layers of glass and cold marble. His fortress soaked with Zen and littered with fruit. By the time she pulled into his drive, it was quite late approaching midnight. She made damned sure to slam the car door, so he'd know he had guests – or if he had other guests he'd have time to prepare – as if either of them could prepare for the other. They must be in love she reasoned, because no sane person would put up with either of their shit.

His car was parked carelessly askew, very unlike the neat and orderly Charlie Crews. He was unbalanced and dangerous now. Those were the times she was most drawn to him. She knew this meant trouble, but then not coming meant trouble too. He was her own special brand of trouble as she was his. She didn't knock; she just barged in.

"Crews? Crews? Where the hell are you?" she shouted angrily.

"Here," he pronounced in a low growl from behind her.

Just beneath her ear, his breath tickled her throat and his hands captured her arms in an iron grip. Her heart raced and temperature skyrocketed. Her mouth was dry and lips parched suddenly.

"I live here. But why are you here, Reese?" he questioned a small trace of amusement in his dark tone.

She remembered this Charlie Crews, from three years ago, fresh out of prison, mean and edgy – the Zen was just to throw people off. He was raw, fierce and volatile.

"To make you remember," she breathed finally, "something that I learned from you."

"Is that so?" he questioned pulling back suddenly, releasing her arms and stepping away. Her response threw him. He tried to put distance between them; he was prepared for her anger, her fury, not this. She undid him and she would do it for the rest of his life.

She turned and there were tears in her eyes, but they also held concern, affection and compassion. "I know what you saw, I know what you think, but it's not real. All that our senses present to us is a fiction; no more real than a dream."

He was entranced. Just that quickly she'd stolen his anger, his fear, his hurt – her deep brown eyes swallowed it as effectively as a blanket smothers a fire.

"What?" he hoarsely whispered as he took another step back.

"Objects," she paraphrased offering the worn, tattered photo, "are deceiving."

He looked down at the offered object and his fingers shook as he brushed against it.

"We can only know that which we believe; that which we believe is all we have," she held his eyes and repeated the session from the Zen website that made all the puzzle pieces fit for her. It was when she knew that he was not a bad man and that he was her man.

His eyes were wild. He was unsure and unsteady. She stepped towards him and he retreated again, finding a solid wall against his back. She paused a moment and watched him as his eyes slipped closed and he reached for the calm, quietness that he'd so carefully cultivated.

"Don't," she warned.

His eyes blinked open, they were a vibrant yet indescribable color. His head cocked to the side and he questioned her without words.

"Don't go there," she approached cautiously, "go to that cold place where I can't reach you." Her hands slowly slid up his chest, she paused to felt his heartbeat and his breath move in and out of his lungs. His heart raced, even as he sought to control his breathing, his body betrayed him.

His eyes focused on her hands.

"Maybe you didn't believe me," she offered. "When I told you I love you, Charlie," she explained. "Now I don't know who gave this to you or why, but I've seen similar photos. They are moments taken out of context. They are not you – because I know you - I see you and even when you're not around - I feel you – here," she took one of his shaking hands and put it over her heart.

His eyes were brimming with unshed tears. He was vulnerable and all his guards were down. She could kill him with a look if she wanted to and yet he could not stop her, he would not.

She gently traced the contour of his face and her thumb drew a soft line across his lips. She slowly sunk her hand into the short red sideburn and slipped it along his face into his hair. She drew him to her, inexorably like gravity.

She stopped just before she kissed him and told him once again very quietly, "I love you, don't you ever forget that." Her tongue slid along his mouth and she hissed as he pulled her tightly against him. His fingers gripped the denim of her jean, pulling her tighter into the hollow of his body. They fit, they always had, broken bodies and tortured souls.

He eased and her kiss turned slow, patient, languorous. The room swam and spun; his world tilted – all his other goals, dreams and desires faded. He crushed her against him and consumed her breath. "I love you," he growled against her temple when lack of oxygen drove him to break their heated kiss.

"Show me," she purred and pulled him by the hand to the deep inviting coolness of his bed. She knew her way through his house and his heart now. He was powerless and bewitched. He was utterly at her mercy and he couldn't remember ever looking so forward to his doom.


	24. Chapter 24

**Aquarius – Chapter 24**

They lay together in post coital bliss with the long rays of the rising sun slicing through his bedroom windows – all ten of them, as she traced the many scars on his chest and stomach with her fingernail. His hand was tangled in her hair and his finger pulled through her tresses.

Each was consumed by their quiet meditation of the other.

"Crews?" she questioned softly.

"Hmmm," he replied kissing her temple.

"If we're together long enough," she opened, "I'd like to know about each and every one of these," she referred to his scars.

"If?" He chuckled. She returned his gaze as he looked down on his dark angel and he knew she deserved the truth, "I don't want to go back there. I want to be here – with you."

She surrendered with a simple, "okay." It was that easy. He'd said no and she accepted it. They'd turned a corner.

"Only no more new ones," she wrung a promise from him.

"I promise," he vowed.

"You'll stop chasing cars then?" she confirmed.

He smiled at her metaphor, "Yes. Yes, I will." He knew what she was asking.

About that time, the front door open and then shut in succession and the sound of men's loafers on marble echoed up the hallway through the open door. He felt her tense. "Relax," he coached, "No one – whoever that is going to catch you doing something you shouldn't, being somewhere you shouldn't be - you belong here."

"Charlie?" Ted's voice questioned calling loudly. "Are you here?" he sang out again as he climbed the stairs. Ted peeked into Charlie's bedroom, again questioning this time with annoyance in his tone, "Charlie, are you here?"

He saw Crews' red hair and the tanned skin of the brunette draped across his pale chest about the same time as Crews spoke, answering him with a single word, "completely." He wore a relaxed smile.

The woman who looked vaguely familiar made no effort to move and wasn't completely exposed although a long expanse of her back and one of her shapely legs were was visible the sheet covered just enough.

Ted blushed furiously, averted his eyes and swore under his breath, "geez, I'm….so…sorry." Unfortunately, he realized for him to have noted that much meant he was looking.

Charlie pulled the sheet a little higher. "So how was Spain?" he inquired as it was the most normal thing to have a woman lying in his bed and them conversing.

"It was…nice," Ted said extremely uncomfortably. "I'm gonna go now."

Charlie rolled his eyes and groaned, "It's not that weird Ted."

"It's a little weird, Charlie," his friend argued.

"Do you think it's weird?" Charlie inquired looking down at his bedmate.

She turned, looked at Ted with the regal disdain only mustered by cats and replied, "Yes, it's weird but then you're both a little strange." She wrapped the sheet around her, rose and sauntered into the bathroom.

"Is that? Ted choked hoarsely. "That's….Dani Reese?" he whispered the last part.

"Yes, I know," Charlie chuckled and sat up.

"And you're…." Ted inquired unable to stop his morbid curiosity, "what now?"

"Partners," Charlie said succinctly, "more than before, but still partners."

"Uh-huh," Ted confirmed dully as shock set in. There was no mistaking what he'd walked in on. His best friend and the daughter of the man who put him back in prison were now lovers – minimum. It scared the hell out of him. "What else did I miss?" he inquired weakly.

"Lots," Charlie laughed. "I'll fill you in later…" he trailed off as he heard the shower start. "I need to take a shower," he advised his shell-shocked friend.

Ted groaned and fled.


	25. Chapter 25

**Aquarius – Chapter 25**

"Think he'll recover?" Dani asked her partner and he joined her in the shower.

"Yeah," Charlie confirmed, "he'll be fine. To be honest, he's a little scared of you," Charlie said soaping her back in circles with a soft cloth.

"He is, huh?"

Charlie nodded.

"And what about you?" she wondered coyly. "You still scared of me?"

"More than ever," he answered in brutal honesty, "but I can't help myself. You're my one, Dani," he kissed her damp forehead.

"Tell me what that means," she asked.

"The one person I can't forget, give up or let go of," he kissed her lightly in a series of open mouthed kissed that built until he had her pinned to the wall of glass in his shower and they were breathless.

"I let Rayborne rile me yesterday," he admitted. "He did it on purpose," he explained. "I got too close to the truth and he knows you are my Achilles heel."

"You went to see Rayborne without me," she shoved him roughly. "Haven't I told you not to do stupid stuff? Haven't I?"

"Yep, " he admitted. "I was…it wasn't the brightest thing I've ever done."

He continued to focus on her, but she took the washcloth from him and began soaping up his chest and then she turned him around to scrub his back. He experienced a momentary flash of discomfort, which he knew was from twelve years in prison. All the muscles in his back, neck and legs tensed suddenly, someone …anyone behind him in the shower was not a good memory.

Just as quickly, she turned him back around, "what's…"

She gulped and paled, suddenly the enormity of his fear was apparent to her.

"Wrong?" he finished. He could tell she already knew.

"I'm sorry," she stammered. "I forgot…."

"That I was in prison?"

She looked down, away, anywhere but at him. "Some times I forget…"

"Me too," he used his knuckle under her chin to raise her eyes to his. "Some times I need help to forget…" he told her and pressed her against the wall. He leaned in and kissed her hard. It shocked her, but didn't take long for her to catch on.

Earlier in the bedroom, he'd been gentle and tender, but here he was fierce and ravenous. He needed to be the aggressor and be in control here. She let him while she never would have let anyone else.

His scars were more than white lines on his pale body. They were more than skin and broken bones. This was why Rayborn was able to attack him. He knew that before Crews had been strong; he'd once been weak – beaten, broken, bloodied but not bowed. This was the same panic she'd felt that day when she was coated in a fine layer of airborne drugs. She knew his fears for they were here own.

When he switched to her neck and his fingers clawed at her arms, she whispered, "Shhh, it's okay against his ear and pressed her cheek against the wet hair at his temple. "You're not there, Charlie and you're never going back there," she told him.

He drew back and looked at her. His eyes were a strange green color and confused. The panic was still there, but it was fading. "Come back to bed," she pulled him along with her. "I have something I need to show you."

They made love again in the late morning as the sky turned bright and filled the room with light. Shadows fled as she allowed him to bury his fears in her. In doing so she became both his absolution and his savior - as he was hers.

As they lay satiated from sex, but hungry for more she asked him an important question, maybe the only important question left. "So…what happens next?"

"I don't know," he replied honestly caressing the smooth skin of her shoulder. "But whatever it is we'll face it together – as partners." That term took on additional meaning, but it still applied. They weren't just co-workers, they were more than lovers, less than married, but completely and totally matched and they'd stay that way for life. Neither was interested in anything more or anyone else.

If it bothered her that Rayborne was using her to neutralize Crews, she didn't share it. Part of her welcomed the opportunity to repay the sacrifice he'd made for her. She'd leave the Department, or he would – maybe they both would. She'd commit completely to this partnership and in that way - keep Crews safe from his baser instincts. He would not drag her into that darkness – that place he longed to go, where he'd commit unspeakable evils in pursuit of vengeance.

"Vengeance is a dark light that blinds all who seek it," the disembodied voice on the tape said. "The untroubled soul knows there is no justice in revenge. The untroubled soul knows that to seek vengeance is to seek destruction."

In saving him from himself, she'd save them both.


End file.
